CHANGES!

I have been thinking a lot about my work, my content, my situation, life, everything… over the past week. As you probably know from my post on Instagram and my latest blogpost, I was planning to be in Kenya right now to bring donations, help and volunteer at the school there. This has been a big dream of mine for a while now and I was so excited to bring it to fruition finally. But life had a different plan and so I am currently bed ridden with a broken foot and severe adrenal fatigue symptoms – and therefor a lot more time to introspect and plan than expected.

Today I want to share some recent reflections with you and announce a few changes that I am making.

At the beginning of January I picked up my #jjgratitudebook again – a daily gratitude journal in form of Instagram posts. I had previously done this in 2016 and it was such a beautiful (and very personal) way of sharing my experiences and thoughts throughout the months. Practicing gratitude is an extremely important part of my daily routine and has been an anchor in difficult times. It is something so simple yet incredibly powerful! I have found that you can really train it like a muscle. The more often you consciously think about things that you are grateful for the more you actually feel appreciation for everything in life. In a state of real felt gratitude there is no space left for anxiety, worries or doubts. It is also a beautiful way of manifesting more of what you love because it’s true: What you think about you bring about.

So since January first I have been writing these long gratitude posts and often spent about an hour or more reflecting on my day and capturing my thoughts and feelings with you guys.

Since then I have lost about two thousand followers. Instagram has changed. Due to the new algorithm it has not been easy for me to reach new people with my posts. Where last summer my posts were seen by about 70k or more people I now sometimes hardly reach 20k. Instead of viewing the posts chronologically in our feeds like before the order of photos and videos is now “based on the likelihood you’ll be interested in the content, your relationship with the person posting and the timeliness of the post.” Aha.

I am usually really not that interested in numbers. My message and content is far from “mainstream” and my goal has never been to reach as many people as possible but rather to create meaningful content for my community, to inspire in a positive and valuable way and to raise awareness for topics that are close to my heart such as cruelty free living, mental health, mindfulness, sustainability and co.

So at first when my follower count started decreasing it did not really bother me and I neither made any changes to my content nor started to invest into in bots / fake follower / etc. But of course I want to make content that YOU like and that brings value to you! And with so many people leaving my page in the last 2-3 months I obviously failed to do so, at least for some of you.

At the same time I have been receiving such beautiful feedback, more personal messages than ever, that often got me to tears, telling me how inspired they have been by my posts, how they have found hope and guidance in my sharings. You have no idea how much these messages and comments touch me every single time and how grateful (!) I am to be able to be a source of positive inspiration and maybe help some of you to find more light and joy, even in difficult times.

But it is time to restructure a little bit!

Instagram is mainly a page for sharing pictures (duh Jil) and with the incredible and daily increasing mass of content and pages to follow and catch up with it is even harder to get someone’s attention for long (my oftentimes 350-400 words) captions. I admit it is even a struggle for me to keep up with my friends pages and fave “Instagrammers”‘s longer posts.

So instead of publishing my #jjgratitudebook pages daily on IG I will from now on write weekly(-ish) recaps on here – in the same messy “jilicious” stream of consciousness style that you are used to. But on here I am not limited to 2200 characters and can go into more depth on certain topics, share links and resources and more pictures of trips / events / etc. with you. It makes much more sense to write one longer post on here, one that you can take some time (maybe on a Sunday afternoon with a cup of tea) to really dive into, than spamming you guys with my daily superlong captions. You can subscribe to my blog somewhere on the right → so you get a notification via mail when I upload. But of course I will keep you updated on Instagram about new blogposts.

I will continue to post on there as well – just with some adjustments. You would actually do me a massive favour by commenting below or sending me a message and telling me WHY you are following me and WHAT you are interested in seeing and reading from me.

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I am also creating a little inspiration (news)letter, a personal mail that I am planning to send out daily or every few days, consisting of a some affirmations, tips, recommendations, thoughts, suggestions – whatever feels true to me on that day. I am super excited about this and will share more information in a few days!

♥︎♥︎♥︎ The main purpose of my work is to inspire and connect, to create a safe space for you to open up, to feel, to see. I believe in the power of community and real connection more than anything and I value one personal mail contact or the one-on-one skype sessions I have been doing so much more than how many likes a picture gets.

If you have questions (regarding self love, spirituality, hormonal health, going vegan, dealing with depression or anxiety, being highly sensitive,…) or simply feel the need to talk to someone in private you can always contact me and we will figure something out. ♥︎♥︎♥︎

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I also plan to finally start making videos again. I know I sound like a broken record with this one – but I have been postponing it for a long time now because I put pressure on myself to first get to a certain point with my (mental) health. But I have to realize that A) it’s going to take more time than expected to heal from adrenal fatigue and the symptoms I am experiencing. And B) you guys are interested in my journey, not perfect highly edited content.

When I started Jilicious Journey in 2014 I always just shared exactly what was on my mind straight from the heart, in the beginning filmed with an iPhone camera, unedited and raw content. I showed you everything: my acne, my cellulite, my puffy bare face in the morning, I talked about all kinds of personal and intimate topics, from contraception and bloating to my past with self harm. But with a growing audience my perfectionism creeped in and I somehow started being afraid to disappoint when my content would not have a certain quality.

So I am excited to start filming again: sit down talks about what I have learned and experienced over the past two years, about my health, daily routines, food, spirituality, my thoughts on life, love, happiness and more…

Sooooo yeah! That is all I wanted to share with you today. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post and maybe the few extra minutes to tell me your thoughts down below or in a private message.

your content is beyond wonderful. It is how it should be. Nevertheless, I do think your new format will be more effective. I sometimes also struggled to read your daily posts and actually take them in instead of just reading the words … I am looking forward to your weekly updates on here 🙂 I will definitely have a cup of tea in my hands .✨
I enjoy how diverse your content is. Nevertheless, I think it would be great if you could talk more about spirituality. Perhaps the meaning of specific numbers, "normal" social life in realtionship to consciousness etc. 🌑🌕🌗
But of course, I believe your content will always be stunning if it comes from your heart.
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Thank you for sharing these thoughts so openly. I wish you all the best
and thank you for every little thing. You improved the lifes of soo many.

Do whatever it is that your heart desires. Dont force your creative process, just post whatever feels good in your heart. I believe that by doing this, even if you dont intend on reaching a lot of people, you will . I understand that instagram is like a job for you, but it would be so liberating if you just create for the joy of just creating. I will love and support you either way. lots of love Jil.xx

Hey Maria! I do, I often notice how much more intuitive and free I handle my work & content in comparison to other bloggers. And even though sometimes I think it should be more structured, I value this a lot and want to keep it. Thanks for your kind words and encouragement. xx

I am following you because the pictures you post of especially your home inspire me to enjoy my own company and spend time on self care. What I would like to see (more) is details about your daily habits and routines. Especially when it comes to spirituality. But even the regular stuff would be interesting. Like a pamper routine or how to wind down in the evening. Videos on this where you actually show it would be the best. I am thinking a bit of what youtuber Kalyn Nicholson does, particularly her vlog style routines, except that you seem to be in a different phase of your life and you have different needs. I think with the way you are handling everything, you could inspire others. I looooove writing your texts. But I am also a very visual person, so youtube would be wonderful. In the meantime, just be you. I wish you well and I am sending you lots and lots of good energy so you heal fast and can continue your adventures : )

Thank you so much for your comment girl!! ♥︎ This is super helpful for me! And I LOVE Kalyns Channel, it’s been one of my faves for the past 2-3 years. I hope I’ll soon be able to create more visual content as well. Thanks for your kind words!!

I wish you the best of lucks with all the changes! I think it’s a great idea changing the IG posts format and making videos again.

Personally I’m always super interested in posts that talk about the connection between emotions and illnesses, foods that heal the most and regarding what kind of physical problems, of course daily spiritual and healthy routines, recipes, your thoughts and recommendations on travels you’ve made, … and of course any surprise is always welcome 😜

I hope this can give you some ideas and I’m sure you’re going to create something even greater! These are going to be great times!!!!! ❤️

Hey sweet Laura,
thank you so much for your kind words and especially for telling me what you are interested in, that really helps me! It’s the exact topics that I want to focus on 🙂
Sending much love! Jil

What a pity but understandable reasons! It was a kind of a little ritual to read the latest gratitude post when i arrived at office.
I miss it, to start my working day with your inspirational and moving thougths amd a cup of coffee or tea! Missing this benefit! Much love & energy!